The Saudi Cup, with its $20 million purse, was created, at least in a strictly sporting sense, to bring together the leading middle-distance runners from around the world. While the enterprise hasn’t failed, the race’s last four winners – Senor Buscador, Panthalassa, Emblem Road, and Mishriff – hardly rate as global superstars.
But this winter, three weeks away from the sixth Saudi Cup, the race appears to be conforming to its creators’ vision.
Following a late autumn respite, Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone, the champion 3-year-old of 2024, has been in steady, serious training at Payson Park, trainer Chad Brown’s winter base.
He posted his first post-Classic work on Jan. 6, has breezed steadily since, and while Brown in comments to Daily Racing Form hasn’t totally committed to the Saudi Cup, the strong expectation is that Sierra Leone, all being well, will take his shot on Feb. 22 at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh.
Sierra Leone as of Jan. 31 shared antepost market favoritism with Forever Young, the Japan-based 4-year-old who finished third in a three-horse Kentucky Derby photo finish and a more soundly defeated third behind Sierra Leone and Fierceness in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Forever Young rates higher than the Japan-based Ushba Tesoro, beaten a head by Senor Buscador in last year’s Saudi Cup. Forever Young prepped for his run on Dec. 29 by winning the Tokyo Daishoten Stakes.
Laurel River, who topped the 2024 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings thanks to his blowout Dubai World Cup victory in March, also is an expected runner. Trained in Dubai by Bhupat Seemar, Laurel River made his first post-World Cup start Jan. 24 in the Firebreak Stakes at Meydan, where he set the pace and tired late, finishing second by a nose in a pure prep for the Saudi Cup and the Dubai World Cup.
Romantic Warrior also ships from Dubai, where he landed the Group 1 Jebel Hatta Stakes last month, but Romantic Warrior is a Hong Kong horse, not a Dubai resident. Far more accomplished than Laurel River, Romantic Warrior not only has emerged as Hong Kong’s best horse, he might be the world’s best, taking down Group 1s in Australia, Japan, and Dubai to go along with three wins in Hong Kong’s richest race, the Hong Kong Cup. Campaigned only on turf, he’ll be the first Hong Kong horse to race in Saudi Arabia.
“He’s a very talented horse and we believe he’ll handle [dirt],” trainer Danny Shum told Saudi Cup publicity during a mid-December visit to Riyadh.
That’s a mighty top four. After that, the prospective field becomes less clear. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. has kept the door open to send Pegasus World Cup winner White Abarrio, although White Abarrio, trained at the time by Rick Dutrow, flopped as the 2024 Saudi Cup favorite. Joseph also has mentioned Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Soul of an Angel as a potential starter in the Saudi Cup, a race contested at about 1 1/8 miles around one turn.
Trainer Brad Cox said this week he won’t send any horses to Saudi Arabia, meaning Saudi Crown won’t make a second Saudi Cup bid following his third-place finish a year ago.
Trainer Todd Pletcher has one horse, Pegasus runner-up Locked, under Saudi Cup consideration. Pletcher on Friday termed Locked a possible runner and said a decision on his participation would come next week.
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